FAMILIY IS FAMILY
by Lykeans
Summary: VEGETA IS KEEPING A SECRET AND TRUNKS WANTS TO FIND OUT WHAT IT IS, BUT COULD ONLY WAIT FOR IT TO BE REVEALED.::PLEASE READ.  I have changed the lengths of the chapters, but don't worry the story is the same.
1. Secrets kept secret

**NORM POV +*+*+**

_"thought" _

"speech"

/telepathic/ \\ . . . \\

* * *

**Character POV * * ***

"speech"

thought

_'telepathic speech'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(SECRETS KEPT SECRET)

TRUNKS POV * * *

I've realize over the years that my father has been real secretive, especially towards me. He never lies to me. Anytime I get curious, I ask him questions - not mom, she only tells me what I want to here or to keep my mind at ease from disturbing things. When I was six I asked dad:

_"Dad what's love?"_

His answer:

_"Ask your mother."_

I thought he just didn't want to answer my question…Not until he disappeared the next the day. Mom said he took the spaceship into space to train and test out his power. She even suspects something was off, but shrugs it off, mentioning it wasn't the first time he took off like this.

It was November when he left. He came back next year in March.

The look in his eyes…happiness. I'll never forget that sight. For some reason as I had examined his happiness, I was happy…and didn't want it to disappear. But you know how he is, got to put on that mask for the matter of pride - annoying, but suspicious. What made him happy?

Ever since then, I tried to get that happiness back, but nothing had worked. He just gets into more arguments with mom. I thought those verbal fights he has with mom was a weird habit; smirking every time he wins their arguments…but still, in the end, there was no real happiness. So I try pranks on Goku – each of them had well thought out plans…my father laughs, and then argues AGAIN. I think he does it on purpose. So I gave up on those and ask mom weird questions around dad, like-_where do babies come from?_ Or_ what's sex?_ I already knew the answers, I just wanted to make dad happy. But he just blushes and walks away from the situation. In the end, all weird questions and jokes had no effect. So I gave up on making him happy and just focus on what he likes.

They were; chocolate, gum, training, making fun of Goku, being stronger than anyone else, sex, shopping for clothes - _believe it or not_, alone in peace until he feels lonely, paintings of horizons and other landscapes, raw meat - _a Saiyan thing_, ice cream, and frying bugs with his ki and calling them names while doing it. _Old habits die hard_.

Sure I know about dad being a ruthless, cold-blooded, genocidal, planetary killer. It doesn't really bother me until it's actually brought to my attention. Like at the Tournament when Buu came…where was I? Oh, Yeah.

Five years past and he left at the same time. The reason I know is because I'm taking notes in my journal. His disappearances, awkward moods, changes in taste; he even cooked once for me when mom left on her business trip. There was no mess and the meal was delicious - _yum_.

The 'trips' came more frequent than usual, but they only last for two months. It used to be every two years for four to five months, except when bad guys cause trouble when come around. He stays until they're dealt with then leaves.

I asked him this one question:

_"Dad, have you ever loved anyone else before you met mom?"_

He shows a small rare smile and answers:

"_Yes, I have. And never forget Trunks that no matter what happens enjoy things you treasure deeply while you still have time."_

I was just struck in awe when he said that. Makes you wonder who he loved back then, huh?

I'm seventeen now. A lot has happen over the few years, so I'll give it to you short.

Twelve:_-He came back with a hickey on his left shoulder. A small hint of eye liner and reddish-purple bruise hand prints on his hip. And lip gloss?_

Thirteen:_-Dress in a royal gown, crown, and different varieties of jewelry. He wore deep red lipstick. At first, I thought he was a girl._

Fourteen:-_No changes. Just a smile - but found out the unsettling way he had endless rounds of sex that night._

Fifteen:_-He didn't leave. He stayed to help raise Bulla. She's five._

Sixteen:-_He came back smelling like weed, musty like he just got out of the gravity chamber, and tipsy. He was dressed in leather ripped outfit, looking like a rock star with a very interesting black signed guitar on his left shoulder. Quote: "If you don't tell your mother, I'll take you to where I've been going. I promise."_

He kissed me on the check after that. Don't know why, but I think it was because he was tipsy-creepy. I just hope he didn't forget his promise.

Mom says it might be Goku's doing, making him all _happy_ and _nicer_ - doubt it. He only gets angry when he's with him. There was this one time he grab Goku by his hair, drags him upstairs to his room, and turned him into a clown using mom's make-up. He did that to prove his point of their argument. "_Kakarot acting like a clown and foolish enough no to realize it_." The suspicious part was that it was will done in less in a minute…but it was still funny.

Today is going to be different very different, Goten's staying for the night. He also knows about my dad 'trips'. He says – I quote, "It might be that he wants more 'alone time' or probably has friends out in space he like to visit from time to time, you know he's not really use to being in one place - Saiyan and all."

He may be right, but I WILL find out sooner or later. I should just ask him than just be sneaky around him. He'll just tell me . . . . . right?

NORMAL POV + * + * + * +

Trunks got up from bed after he hides his journal under the mattress, stretching his arms and legs out and heads to the shower, which is connected to his room. After his shower, he dries himself off, pulls out a pair of blue denim jeans, whatever underwear he grabs first, a grey tank top, and puts on dirty grey sneakers. He then heads down for breakfast. _'Better check on what's going before something bad happens.' _Trunks thought.

Goten slept across the hall from Trunks room. He was already downstairs eating breakfast with his family as well as Trunk's father and kid sister. His father was probably arguing or fighting with someone, except Uub and Bulla – they don't ever argue with him.

The Son family was staying over at C.C. because of an incident between Goku and Uub's training going too far plus the destruction of the house. Luckily Gohan's family didn't get caught. They won't leave until they get a new home or Bulma helps out with their situation. Unfortunately it's neither, since Bulma's on a business trip and the Son family couldn't find another good home to fit their family. Now that's going to take a while.

_'This may be more entertaining than Thanksgiving. I wonder if dad will let me talk to him today.'_ Trunks turn around the corner and smiles at everyone. "Good morning, everyone! I hope my dad is not giving you guys any trouble. How's breakfast?"

Goten replies first. "Morning Trunks, there's no problems here, except our dads fighting over a waffle and fried eggs." Goten points at their fathers.

Vegeta and Goku punch and kick each other over the last waffle and at the same time stuffing their faces with eggs as fast as they could. While Chi-Chi kept her cool trying not to shout at the fighting Saiyans. Her face was already red, from holding in her anger. She was just using her manners because she was a guest. Trunks took over to her.

He walk next to Goku's side took a deep breath and calmly stated, "Father instead of fighting over a waffle and eggs why not split them, then take the fight outside so no damage could happen in this house while mom is gone."

They stopped. Goku gave his usual grin to Trunks. "Morning, Trunks. We were-" Vegeta interrupts him.

"Boy this is none of your business so butt-out. This is between me and-" Trunks got angry and interrupts his father.

"I don't care! We have guests and you're acting like a wild animal. Remember, mom put me in charge because you can't handle yourself or act nice while Goku's around." Vegeta gets furious at Trunks.

"Don't you dare talk back to me for I'll-" Vegeta silenced himself as Trunks put up his hand to cut him off. He turns toward Chi-Chi and smiles. She gives Trunks her attention.

"You can take over and handle this your way if you want, you have my permission." She stands up and takes out her frying pan of doom. Goku steps back, knowing what will happen next. Both Saiyans sweat drop and gulp.

"Why thank you Trunks." She looks evilly at the Saiyans. "Don't you dare take off-" They took off running for their lives, plates of left-over food at hand. "-come back here and take your punishment as men or else!"

Uub speaks his mind. "How long does stuff like this last?"

Bulla answers, "Until someone gets hit by her frying pan."

Trunks give his answer, "Usually now these days they just run around until the other gets tired and gives up." Trunks then think for the moment, _'I wonder if dad remembers his promise. It is almost that time to leave…Just three more days.'_


	2. An unexpected friend?

**A/N**: The name **'Shei'** is pronounced _"shy"_

The name '**Annikinah**' is the long for '**Andy**' and is pronounced _"An-nick-keen-nah", _but don't worry for I will be using **'Andy'** more often than some and may give reminders.

These are words of the Swahili language:

_Hakuna madhara_- no effect

_Vidogo rafiki__-_ tiny best friend

* * *

**Normal POV+*+*+**

"speech"

"_thought"_

/telepathic/

* * *

**Character POV*****

"speech"

thought

_'telepathic'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(AN UNEXPECTED-FRIEND…)

After Goku and Vegeta received the frying pan of doom from Chi-Chi, they both settled to relax on the couch with ice packs on their heads. The bruises were the size of a tennis balls and were still growing for some odd reason.

After everyone was done with breakfast, Goten was outside sparring Uub with Bulla watching them both in fascination. Trunks and Chi-Chi were in the next room from the other two full-blooded Saiyans talking up a storm, but most likely keeping an ear out in case they start fighting - 'again'.

Vegeta was spacing off, thinking heavily on a calculating rate,_ "I hope I could leave without anyone noticing. I might not take Trunks with me if these people don't leave. I hope it doesn't resolve to that or he'll be piss." _He smirks._ "Then again-"_

Vegeta's thought was interrupted by Goku. "Vegeta are you all right?" He looks concern at the prince.

He gives Goku a dirty, angry look. "Of course not - I got whacked by your wife, got scolded by my son, my headache is getting worse, and some for reason the bruise is not going down. Ugh! Just be quiet and leave me alone!"

Goku frowns. "Sorry Vegeta. I was kind of worried; you were staring at my feet for a long time."

Vegeta closes his eyes and smirks. "Your feet are huge. Just thinking the people on this planet must've mistaken you for 'big foot' the moment you take a walk in the forest." Vegeta snickers at the thought of Goku's feet.

Goku didn't liked Vegeta's smart reply and released some anger out. "Hey! At least I'm not a small-fry that has to where women size clothing and wear tight spandex that makes me look like a blue ballet dancer with weird boots on." Goku quickly covers his mouth and regrets the words that came out of his mouth, but chuckles none the less.

Vegeta becomes furious and stands up with his hands at his sides, balling up his of the bruise and ice pack landing on the floor. "What was that you third-class scum! I'll blast you into- "

Trunks come in before Vegeta finishes. "Are you trying to start another fight _again_? Don't you guys get tired of that?"

"Humph." Vegeta folds his arms over his chest and sticks his nose in the air. "We're Saiyans boy. It's in our nature to fight every now and then." Vegeta glares at Trunks.

Trunks did the same, copying his father, but kept his face strait and smirks. "Yeah, fight. Not argue like a married couple with bad social issues." Goten, Uub, and Bulla walks in catching the conversation among Trunks and the fathers. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone did mistake you guys as couples."

Vegeta was ready to beat his son to the ground until a sudden strong energy interrupts everyone concentration and current state of the argument.

They couldn't tell if the newcomer was evil or good; the person's chi was neutral.

Goku gets up balling his fists, keeping his gaze on the ground. "This one is powerful, too powerful. Let's hope he is not here for a fight, or else we could be in big trouble."

Everyone gulped.

But it was Vegeta who was the most worried, or should I say…nervous.

**Vegeta's POV * * * ***

DAMN! Why now of all time to come. Why? I told him not to - The idiot! I told him not to come for a reason. Now I have to deal with this – hope no one realize what I'm doing.

There are some good things to telepathy._ 'Are you there, Shei? Hello? RESPOND GOD-DAMN IT!' _

_'Vegeta, is that you?'_ Good, he responded.

_'Yes it's me. What are you doing here? I told you not to come.'_ I snarl telepathically.

_'Oh my God Vegeta,' _he whines,_ 'Miss 'Bossy' demands to see you, not sure why man, but she could throw a tantrum!'_Shei is sure pissed, probably angry for being interrupted from doing something fun.

_'WHY was she angry?'_ Speaking of which, I've never seen _her_ angry before, so why now?

_'A certain SOMEONE ate the last of her favorite dessert.'_ He chuckles and I smirk-figures.

She's always been on a very thin line when it came to her favorite food. _'That's Andy for you. She's unpredictable in so many ways. Hey, do me a favor.'_

_'What?'_

_'Act like an evil villain and kidnap me - and my son.' _I show him a memory image to him.

_'And why, my I ask?'_

_'I don't want them to know about- do I have to explain?' _Please do this.

_'All right, but in return I want some fun time.' _He laughs._ 'I haven't had fun since the Great War. I could I eat someone, I'm starving.'_

_'NO, just do what I say and I'll pay you back...sooner or later?'_

_'Alright, it's a deal then. I'm landing in the next two hours. See you soon.'_ He cuts out our connection before I knew it. That guy could be more unpredictable than Andy…and why is Kakarot looking at me like that.

"Vegeta are you alright? I was talking to you and you were zoned out again. I-" I cut him off before he gets too suspicious.

"I'm fine the head injury is getting the better of me." That should get his attention off me. I know Trunks will not fall for that, but as long he keeps his mouth shut I'll keep our promise.

**Trunks' POV * * * ***

I knew dad was up to something, but kept my mouth shut. Whatever he was thinking about might involve my chance of knowing his secret. So I just shrugged it off like it was dad's usual 'things'-or another Saiyan excuse. As long as he keeps our promise, I don't care or get too suspicious about it. As the saying goes; Curiosity_ kills the cat. _So better play smart, huh?

**Normal POV + * + * + * +**

Everyone was ready for the 'may-be-a-fight' meeting event. Trunks has his sword strapped on, Goten and Uub packed some sensu beans with them, Goku stretched, and Vegeta - well just being outside in the backyard of C.C.

Goku claps to grab everyone's attention. "Okay everyone, the others will catch-up with us later on. Let's just hope this person doesn't want a fight. We already know he's lot more powerful than us combined, so don't under estimate him and play it smart. Since his chi determines he's neutral this day could go either way, so there's half a chance he might want to fight. Which in the case won't be a good idea, so keep your cool as much as you can - Vegeta?"

"Whatever." Vegeta kept his pose, not moving inch.

"Is everybody ready?" They nod. "Grab on." Everyone grabs on each other shoulders, all connecting to Goku. Goku takes one of his fingers, aims them to his forehead and uses I.T. (Instant Transmission) to the location where the newcomer will most likely to land thanks to Trunks' calculations.

The newcomer's ship lands at the same Goku transport them at the location. As they ready themselves for the newcomer to leave the - shuttle? This had the gang puzzled.

The shuttle was about twelve feet tall and no more about three feet wide in looks a lot like one of those firework rockets you find at a local store. The ship is white and has a door one foot taller than Goku's height.

This is very weird.

Goku searches for the newcomer's chi and he instantly looks up. He sees a giant space ship orbiting in the sky, most likely out of earth's reach. "That's funny; I could only sense one person."

The rest of the gang arrive a minute later, Krillin, Yamacha, 18, Tien, Gohan, Pan, Piccolo, and Chiaotzu surfaces on the ground and the newcomer hasn't shown himself yet.

The door opens, sliding upward. A young man comes out of the door of the ship. His body has light tan skin, as well as his serpent-like tail; he was skinny, yet a little less muscular than a normal fighter's. He has short pointy ears, lavender eyes, a long braided messy black pony-tail, fangs of a canine (dog), and is dressed in an all, two piece, black, sleeveless, leather, knee-torn outfit with silver chains hanging from his waist. He also wears a heavy, faded brown, burn-edge trench coat, no shoes –but his toes were clawed- and fingerless gloves. Out of all the other details he looks human.

"Wow! I didn't expect a huge welcoming. I'm famous-who knew?" He looks straight at Goku with a playful expression on his face. "Would this planet happen to be Earth, right?" The newcomer looks around and takes a deep breath. _"Man, this planet has some oxygen. I could live here no problem."_

Goku places his hands on his hips, thinking, _"The man is surely nice, but something is telling me that I should stay alert."_ Goku steps up to the stranger and smiles. "Yes, this is earth. Who are you?"

"Oh, forgive my manners, my name's Shie." He leaps right in front of Goku, returns a smile and shakes hands with Goku.

"Hi, I'm Goku. My Saiyan name is Kakarot, but you could call me Goku." Goku puts his hand behind his head.

"Kakarot, you're a Saiyan huh? You must be Raditz's younger brother. Neat!" Shie places his hands on his hips and turns to the person over Goku's left shoulder. "Well, well, well. It's the person I was just looking for…" Vegeta stiffens trying not to look like a 'deer-caught–in–the-headlights' as Shie addresses towards to him. "…what a great turn of events. I won't need to hunt you down." Shie narrows his eyes at his target and smirks evilly.

Goku was confused. "What do mean about _that_, Shie?"

"Well you see Goku, there's a huge bounty on his head." His eyes turn into a murderous glare, giving Goku a deep chill down his spine. "A life time reward of bringing back his body -dead or alive- to Lord Haze. I don't want to hurt you Goku, you're such a nice person and it would be a bummer to lose a new friend on the first day." He folds his arms over his chest then smiles. "Why not hand him over?"

Trunks blurts out. "No way in hell!" He turns super Saiyan and charges at Shie. Shie jumps back, dodges the oncoming fist and slaps Trunks out of the air, sending him several feet skidding against the ground.

Goten charges, Gohan and Vegeta fallows suit. The fight becomes a three men verses one. But as much Shie was out numbered he was blocking every kick and punch, not letting in one attack get pass his defenses. This was much worse to what Goku had predicted. Shie didn't move from where he stood, only blocks with his hands, giving the Z-gang an implication that this was no ordinary fighter.

Shie grabs Goten's punch with ease, he then turns to grip his arm with his other hand, swings Goten around as he slams him into the other two fighters, and finishes by kicking him in the chest, causing all three fighters flying away through mounds of rocks, trees, and hard ground.

Goten was knocked out with broken ribs. Gohan's left leg was shattered and his right arm became dislocated. Vegeta being used to be flung around like a rag doll just received a few flesh wounds on his legs and arms.

"_No. this no ordinary person, he's more powerful than what I had expected – he's barely using his energy." _Goku thought.

Shie grins. "This is fun! Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?"

"I'm not done yet!" Vegeta shouts.

He fazes behind Shie and kicks, but that was easily dodged by a simple crouch. Shie jumps over the prince and uses his tail to capture Vegeta's neck in a tight grip, chocking him. Goku snaps out of his shocked faze, transforming into SSJ3. Shie smiles as he uses his tail to move Vegeta right behind him, still having him in a tight choking hold.

Piccolo and Krillin shoots chi blasts at Shie, shouting and releasing huge amounts of energy at the enemy. Shie gathers the sent energy in both of his hands, combining it to one large mass of energy. Goku takes this as an opportunity and flash steps in front of Shie, sending a powerful punch at his face. Shie dodges the punch by stepping beside the man, and kicks him in the chest in one full blow, stunning the hero in place gagging for air. As Goku tries to stay in midair Shie takes the chance to beat the living hell out of Goku. Missing all vital spots, Shie delivers over several hundred kicks, and deep scratches all over his body, laughing as he did so. He finishes when a heavy kick to the shin, fazing Goku back to his normal form. He gripped Goku's shirt with toes and throws him towards his sons swiftly, batter to mush and scratched all over.

This left the others shocked that the strongest of them all was taken down in less than a few seconds.

The entire gang attacks all at once, Piccolo and Krillin shoots off more chi blasts. It seems that they are some-what panicking at the situation. This got Shie to laugh even more.

Shie takes the gathered energy in his palms and turns it into something that looks like a lightning bolt. He smirks as he throws it at Krillin. It explodes just before it gets to him, creating a loud bang sound and the bolt shatter into trillions of smaller bolts, hitting a few people in the process. The bolts weren't deadly but they rendered your limbs useless if they hit you. Chiaotzu, Yamacha, Krillin, and Pan got hit and decided to sit off to the sides.

Gohan relocates his arm and levitates in midair to stay of his shattered leg. He turns Mystic and sends a Kamehameha wave at Shie, the other fighters jump out of the way. Shie puts his hand in front of the wave and absorbs it. He keeps pulling the energy out of Gohan, pushing him to go beyond his limit. Just before it became too much, Shie shoves the rest of the energy wave right back to Gohan, nearly killing him.

Trunks look towards the very pissed off Nemekian. "What do we do now?"

Piccolo looks at Shie in disgust as the man laughs at the fighters powerless attempts. "I don't know."

Most of the fighters sit off to the side, knowing full well they are out matched by a long shot. Uub couldn't stand and watch any longer.

Uub felt his rage overtaking his mind. His chi raises to an unbelievable amount, beating Goku's Super Saiyan 3 transformation twice as much. "Ha!" He charges at Shie at full speed and lands a blow to the face. He continues punch after punch, and then kicks as his rage builds more, creating an infinite onslaught of punches and kicks.

Pan stares in disbelief, seeing Uub going all out on Shie, landing each blow directly at every vital area. "Wow! He might just do it. Huh?" Pan questioned at his teacher's silence. "Piccolo, what's the matter?"

Piccolo says nothing for a while. He lowers his gaze and speaks. "Take a closer look Pan. He's barely moving." She turns her gaze, confused, to the fight and realizes what her teacher was talking about. "The way Uub is landing every punch is only making him taking a step back when he should be sent flying or bashed into ground. He should be bleeding by now!" He growled.

Not far from the fight, Goku crawls over to Goten and takes two sensu beans out of his pocket. He chews on one and his body restores from the heavy beating he earned from earlier. "Here take one." He lifts Goten head at bit and sticks the bean in his mouth. "It's a sensu bean, try to chew it." Goten uses what energy he had left and chews the bean.

"Dad, what happened?" Goten says as he sits up, feeling whatever pain was left that the bean did not heal.

"Besides having our butts kicked, nothing much really." He said as he turns to see Uub dishing it out at Shie. He could see that something was clearly wrong about the scene. "He's toying with us." He states defeated.

"Isn't there another way to beat him?" Goten said drastically, jumping to his feet ready for another fighting round.

"There may be another way but it will include everyone. Go get Trunks and use fusion that way your power will increase enough for the finishing blow." Goku thinks for a while as he looks around about their current situation.

"What about you? You can't do the fusion without Vegeta." Goten waited for his father's answer.

"You should hurry. I don't think Uub will last long." Goku says. "Don't forget to give the others a sensu bean; we'll need all the power we got." Goten nods and flies over towards Trunks.

Uub punches Shie one last time with a sharp uppercut, sending him into the air, and gives him his finishing blow. "Ka…ME…HA…ME…HAAAAAA!" A huge energy wave was sent to Shie.

Uub felt no resistance coming from his opponent and stops blasting. He sighs, _"It's over…"_

He heard a chuckle in his ear instantly turns around and stares in disbelief. He sees Shie unscathed, not on mark of a difference was made on his clothing or skin. He backs off creating a distance between him and the enemy.

He grinds his teeth and fists his hands. "Impossible. That blast - those attacks - it should've killed you!" He charges up his energy. "If that didn't do anything, then this will!" He points his index finger at Shie, "Turn into chocolate!" The blast was sent from him finger to directly at Shie's chest.

He just stood there saying, "Hakuna madhara." He takes the blast, glowing in pink and purple rays of energy. The other fighters look onto the battle in the ray of hope that it was over.

The pink and purple flashes end. Uub stares in confusion as he still sees Shie, unchanged. "What? He's not - he didn't change." He falls out of the sky exhausted. Goku catches him and settles him on the ground. "How could that be?" Uub mutters.

"The reason your attack didn't work is because I used magic. Isn't that what that power was, magic? So I thought I could fight fire with fire - or should I say magic?" He shrugs, smiling at the pissed off expressions on the fighters faces.

Shie looks the prince, face blue from the lack of oxygen. Shie snaps his tail, putting extra pressure on his prey's neck. Vegeta goes limp, all strength and energy goes out the window in an instant. He throws down Vegeta's unconscious body and places his foot on his back. "Well now he's out of the way, why not let us fight…boys?"

Gotenks phases behind Shie in his Super Saiyan 3 form and kicks at Shies head, only to be caught by Shie's right hand. "How did you know?" Gotenks asks surprise that he was figured out so easily. Shie smile disappears; his face become serious, and let's go of Gotenks' leg.

Gotenks tries again, only with a chi blasts this time. "Burning - Kamehameha!" Shie stops the blast with one arm again.

Gohan goes Mystic again and helps out Gotenks. "Kamehame…Ha!" His blast's power adds with Gotenks' as their energy waves intertwine.

Pan, Tien and 17 joins in as well, sending their own ki waves or blasts at full power towards Shie. Shie uses more power to stop the oncoming attacks. He stops the blasts in same time with both of his hands. "Damn, I'm stuck." Shie tries to summon up a shield but couldn't as he felt someone interfering with his telekinetic powers.

He looks over to see Chiaotzu waving his hands in a trance. _"Who the hell are these guys?"_ Shie hopelessly thought to himself.

Shie panics as he felt the energy overpowering his. "Damn. I need to stop playing around with these guys." Gohan and Gotenks put more energy behind their blasts. "Damn! I underestimated these guys. Huh?" Shie senses Goku energy, a summoning all his power. _"I need to get Vegeta out of the way." _He grabs Vegeta's leg with his tail and throws him far.

Goku reaches his full power. He musters all his strength and power in one attack. His right hand glows and shouts, "Dragon ... **FIST!**" A golden dragon appears out of Goku's punch, flying and roaring in fierce beauty across the dark sky, striking Shie where he stands. Dust and rocks sent flying in the air from where the dragon is attacking.

Goku fazes back to his normal form. Dust settles down and clears. While searching through the debris, Goku's face turns blank - but shocked. The dragon disappears from everyone's sight. But not in the way Goku usually sees it. It was as though the dragon was being sucked in an unknown vortex.

Not far off it was clear that Shie had done the impossible and _ate_ the dragon. That attack would've killed any living being or at least did heavy damage to the target. Goku didn't know how but he knew it happened. Shie smiles to Goku as he rubs his belly and licks his lips in full appreciation.

Goku growls in anger. "No way - you're a monster!"

"First I was going easy on you guys." He pulls up the ends of his hair and looks at it with close examination. "Now my hair is destroyed and I'm tired of playing around!" He powers up, showing a black flaming-like aura that surrounds him completely. "Now let me show you what true power is." He laughs evilly, sticking his hands out in front of him. A dark chi grows in his hands, swirling and zapping with electricity, transforming into some sort of black hole. "This move may seem familiar to some of you." He falls into a stance and wraps both hands around the dark chi ball.

Goku steps back. Gotenks, on Trunks' side of the mind, became too shocked to move. Gohan's mouth falls wide open, while others just stared. Goku takes another step back. "No way, how could this be? That's - that's-"

Shie shoots his chi wave and shouts its name. "Gallic - GUN!" The dark beam swallows everyone into darkness.

Shie stands in place. He didn't kill; he only laid them unconscious, they were still alive. He walked over to Trunks and picks him up, holding him in one arm. He walks over to Vegeta, throws him over his shoulder, walks to the shuttle, and then stops. He looks at all the fighters one last time. "That certainly was fun and unexpected. Maybe I could come back and fight you in the near future." He smiles as he glances at Goku one last time.

Vegeta stirs, waking up on Shie's shoulder with a sore throat. "What the hell? Put me down I could walk on my own you know." Shie puts the prince down on his feet. "What happened anyway? Did you kill any of them?" Vegeta says and rubs his throat.

"No, I didn't kill, just had fun. Sorry about strangling you nearly to death – are you alright?" Shie asks in concern. He always hated to hurt his 'vidogo rafiki'; physically or mentally.

"_Whatever that word means?"_ Vegeta thought. "Let's get going before they wake up. I have to tell Trunks about this as soon as he wakes up - which reminds me. Why does Andy want with me?" He crosses his arms and pops an eyebrow.

Shie stutters, "Uh- um - it's more like what she would do with_**out**_ you. In another way to say…Annikinah is in bi-zzy mode again and _WE_ need your help when she's gone. So, it's either you, or our 'harasser' - and we _picked_ you. And well-" He stops talking. He shuffles his feet and kicks a pebble.

Vegeta shakes his head and sighs. "Fine, I'll be your guys' _babysitter_. How long is she going to be gone?"

Shie sweat drops and gives a nervous laugh when he answered. "About two years."

Vegeta stares. His eye twitches.


	3. Wired Stuff Happens

**A/n:** Not all the words are Japanese, for the first three words are Swahili.

_Mvua ngoma katika mwezi_ - rain dances under the moon

_Kijificha nge_ - The hideout

_Wanaruka kamba_ - jump rope

_Baka _- idiot; someone who is stupid, dumb, and/or unintelligent

* * *

**NORM POV +*+*+**

"_thought"_

"speech"

/telepathic/

* * *

**CHARATER POV * * ***

"speech"

thought

_'telepathic speech'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(Weird _Stuff_ Happens)

"What do you mean two whole years? You better be joking, or so help me-" Vegeta shouts, anger pouring off him like sweat.

Shie puts his hands up in defense. "Calm down Vegeta. Look Andy left to help end the fifth galactic war. She's going to killing Lord Izojan."

Vegeta tries to calm down. "Frieza's younger brother? He's still alive?"

Shie smiles and places his hand on Vegeta's shoulder. "Yes! And look at the bright side; you don't have to hang around these losers, we get to party like its '1999' on planet earth, and learn a new signature move." He throws his arms in the air dropping the unconscious Trunks. "Also you're free from your wife! Think of all the things we could do!"

Vegeta shakes his head and sighs.

**Vegeta's POV *****

My Gods, let me see. Kakarot and the others think I've been kidnap. Trunks is coming with me, as promised. I have two years to take care of these _**BAKAS**_. So, I guess I have no choice but stay with them and come up with an elaborate story. I wish I had another option.

Wait what about- "Is Tech in the war as well?"

"No, he's somewhere searching for an antidote that'll cure _any_ illness – philosopher business."

"I thought he didn't believe in that crap." Vegeta pondered.

"Well money is money; said he'll come back in two _Saiyan weeks_. You know how he is." He swishes his hands around.

"As long he's not there. Besides, all he does is made things worse for me." Why does he find me the easiest to make fun of in the first place? "Fine, I'll do it."

"YES!" Ugh. He hugs me and swirls around. "Thank you - thank you, thank you, thank you, Tha~ank you!" He puts me down. "Let's go! The other guys are waiting for us with a party - or should I say ... Marti Gra~ss!" He's just like Kakarot.

"Yeah, it's my lucky day." I really don't feel like partying right now, even if it's a Marti Gras.

"C'mon you turtle lets - whoops!" Where is he going, the ship's teleporter is the other way. "Almost forgot Trunks." Gods…so did I.

Sometimes I even wonder if he's alright in the head. Transsexuals are so creepy. Well, I shouldn't talk. It was my idea - in a way.

**Normal POV +++**

They walk into the ship's teleporter - which was the shuttle - and appears inside the ship. As they entered the teleporting room, they head to the Control room or _the pier_ as they like to call it, through long halls and some short cuts.

Vegeta knew the ship very well. The rooms, halls, training areas, escape routes, everything- inside and outside. He and Tech designed the ship, while the others created it following the design. Vegeta smiles at the memory. _"He's true smart ass."_

As they enter _the pier_, Shie places Trunks in a chair, types in a few words into the computer and pushes a blue button. A computer voice comes out, "PASSWORD PLEASE."

Shie stands in commanding position and speaks, "Mvua ngoma katika mwezi."

"PASSWORD ACCEPTED. WHAT'S YOUR DESTINATION?"

"Take us to Kijificha nge." Shie turns around and sits down in the chair that's two feet away from him. "And let the boring part begin!"

Vegeta picks Trunks up in bridal style. "Is the training facility still working?"

"Yeah, Tech fixed it - for you." Shie smiles at Vegeta, who stands with a pale face. "And you know what he wants in return."

Vegeta growls at the cost of such work. "Don't remind me." Vegeta exits the room.

Vegeta walks through the halls towards the training facility. He reaches his destination five minutes later. The room beyond the double doors that are labeled 'T.F.' was the room Tech happily fixed with such delight of looking forward to make Vegeta suffer.

He walks inside the room across the training facility. The door slides open across, sensing Vegeta's movements, and lays Trunks down the king size bed that's placed in the middle of the room. He takes Trunks shoes and sword off, pulls the covers over him and places a written sticky note on his son's sword. Vegeta exits the bedroom and the doors slide close. _"I just hope nothing weird happens when he's here. Actually, being weird is normal for these guys. Everything they do is weird."_

**TRUNKS' POV * * ***

I wake up with the biggest headache I ever had in my life. Hell, I didn't want move at all. Feeling all this comfort surrounding me is heavenly, like I'm sleeping on clouds. Having all my energy sucked away from me with Shie's blast was another reason I could have for not getting out of bed. How on earth did he learn that move anyway - my father's move to be exact?

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Speak of the devil's curse. "C'mon breakfast is ready." Why is he so happy?

Wait, hold on. "Where's my father? What's happen to him?" Shie ignores me and walks through the door.

Chasing this guy to get answers is not fun, just a pain to add on the list of way life sucks.

**Normal POV+*+*+**

Shie skips down the hall humming _'Take me out'_ joyfully while Trunks follows behind walking. Shie turns around a sharp corner, disappearing from Trunks sight. Trunks comes around the corner standing in awe as he eyes the twenty foot dining table covered in the most marvelous food he never seen before, drooling as the aroma hits his nose. Delicious!

Shie pulls out a chair. "C'mon and take a seat. Eat at your heart's desire."

Trunks sits in the chair Shie pulled out. Shie pushes the chair back into the table, settling only an inch away from Trunks chest. Shie sits himself across Trunks as the said boy stuffs his face with delectable foods that Shie too eats like a starved out pig.

After two minutes into the meal, Trunks picks up, what looks like, chicken leg and asks, "Tell me, what you have done to my father?"

Shie looks at Trunks and swallows. Trunks eat his chicken leg as Shie speaks, "Oh! He became a slave to what's-his-face that hired me. He'll make such a good pet." Shie smiles at the boy.

Trunks slam his fists onto the table and stands, sending the chair flying backwards. "What? You won't get away with this! I swear!" Trunks think for a quick second, realizing his predicament. "And what plans do have of me, huh?"

Shie's smile turns into a grin and gives Trunks a cold stare. "Well the royal, rich guy didn't really have what I wanted - which was a bummer - but since I stumbled across you I thought, 'Why not I get something for memories'." He gives Trunks Goku's _'Son grin'_, giving the boy a slight chill. "I'm a sucker for souvenirs. Besides I'm all lonely in space, having you as a pet to torture was a great idea." Trunks turn pale. "You beautiful face with the silky hair just to tear apart at my own expense." Shie walks over and touches Trunks' hair. "I could take your hair and turn it into a wig and sell it to the black market, or I could keep it since it's one of my favorite colors."

Trunks slap Shie's hand away. Shie doesn't respond to the rudeness as he licked his fingers. "If I kept you on a normal meal plan your body will serve as a fine feast as the benefit that royal blood make you into a delectable dish."

Trunks fall back and try to scrabble away. "NO! I won't be your one meal ticket! Stay away from me!" Trunks get up and run for the door, but only to be block off by Shie. Trunks fall on his rear again and crawl away in fright. "No. No! No~o!"

"What's with all this screaming?" Vegeta comes from the kitchen, apron and gloves on with a spatula in his right hand. "Shie quit goofing around and scaring the living crap out of my son and eat! Or else I'm not cooking for you anymore." Vegeta points the spatula at Trunks. "Quit screaming. You sound like a three year old school girl." A bell rings. "Crap. Sit and eat! The both of you, or there will be consequences!" He heads back into the kitchen and comes out ten minutes later with a five-layered triple chocolate cake.

Shie licks his lips. "Wow. Look who learned how to decorate. The roses and vines - wait - is that a tree?" Shie looks at Vegeta. "Whose birthday is it, 'cause I sure wish it's was mine."

"Be quiet. You shouldn't get anything at all for what you did today." Vegeta gives Shie the death glare. Shie frowns and whines like a puppy.

Trunks stare at the cake in wonder, then looks at his father. Shie pushes the limit by cracking a joke, "Yikes…who died and made you king?"

Vegeta smirks. "My father did." They sweat drop. "This is for you Trunks, happy early birthday. I'll go get some milk."

Shie calls out, "Don't forget the ice cream too!"

"Why celebrate my birthday early?" He looks towards Shie, now knowing full well the guy in front of him is one of his father's friends.

Shie answers him. "We don't celebrate birthdays. The only thing we celebrate is being free and having a great time!"

"So, that's all the time - I'm guessing?" Trunks grab a fork and digs into the cake. "Whoa, this is really good -no- delicious." Trunks smile as he takes another bite into the desert.

"Huh? Does Vegeta cook for you guys?" Shie pouts.

"Not really, he only cooks when my mom's out on business. Also, on certain special occasions; only I and my sister know." Trunks say between every bite of cake.

"Deon's living with you?" Shie asks after he swallows his forth bite. "She should've told me she going to live on earth with you guys. I mean - I'm her best friend."

"Who's Deon? I never heard of her." Trunks stops eating.

Shie chokes on a piece of cake. He coughs out the cake and says, "You don't know who Deon is? She ought to be your older half-sister. Didn't Vegeta tell you?"

"No." Trunks ponder on the new information he receives. _"Seems like father is keeping more secrets than I thought he would."_

An unwelcome silence overcame the room as Vegeta came. "I got the ice cream, extra plates, and jugs of milk." Trunks stares at Vegeta and Shie avert his eyes to the cake and ice cream. "What?"

Trunks open his mouth but Shie shouts out, "Let's play some video michezo!"

"Speak in the language we all understand." Vegeta demands.

"Let's play video games!" Shie repeated and translated. "Oh! Let's play the realistic Guitar Hero. I call guitar! Trunks you do drums and Vegeta does vocals and second guitar."

Vegeta blushes. "No! I refuse!" Shie doesn't listen, pulls both Trunks and Vegeta to the game room, or G.R.

(Later)

"Why do I have to do this?" Trunks ask.

"Why do **I** have to do this?" Vegeta asks.

"Trunks don't you want to have fun or loosen a little bit instead of sitting around, eat, train and sleep all the time. And Vegeta, we haven't done this in two years. Besides you owe me from that bet of wanaruka kamba!" Shie jabs his finger at Vegeta. "Or do you want a rematch?"

Vegeta blushes and sweat drops. "No."

"Then pick a song."

Vegeta sighs. "Fine, but since Trunks is here let's do an easy one." Shie nods in agreement. Vegeta scrolls down the list of songs. He selects a song called _'Free bird' by Lynard Skynyrd_. Trunks lift his eyebrow.

Shie sweat drops. "This is your meaning of _easy_?"

Vegeta smirks. "Shie, I ashamed you don't know me by now."

They all had readied themselves. "Fine by me, as long he doesn't break the drums."

"Hey!" Trunks shout.

"I'm just say'n." The song starts.

Vegeta, Trunks, and Shie had went three hours and going of playing 'Guitar Hero', 'American Idol', verses on 'Laser Tag', and now 'Dance, Dance Beyond Extreme Revolution'. This game is a whole dance room with a giant screen and monitors that reads all your moves. (Like dance central, but more advance) So far Shie's winning by 400 points. He and Vegeta are dancing to 'Pump It' by Black Eye Peas. Earlier they were dancing to 'Crank That Soul-ja boy'.

_"Wow. Dad's good. Never knew he could dance."_ Trunks smiles at what he was witnessing. "Go dad! You could do it!" He shouts sarcastically, knowing full well Shie was going to win.

Vegeta turns Super Saiyan and dances away faster. Shie moves his hips in circular motion during Fergie's singing (you know what I'm talking about if you heard the song). Vegeta didn't want to do it. He blushes and admits defeat.

"Yeah - I won! It's your turn Trunks!" Shie smiles at the boy. "You get to pick."

"Okay, how about 'Party Rock Anthem'?" Trunks smirk.

Vegeta shakes his head and enters the game as a third player. "Pick something else."

"Fine, can we sing as well?" Trunks ask.

Vegeta and Shie looks at each other, then at Trunks. Shie answers, "Yeah. You want to dance and sing at the same time?

"Yeah, that way this could be more interesting."

Vegeta turns around. "I'll go get the microphones."

Trunks wait for his father to be out of ear range. "So Shie, I was wondering…How did you meet my dad?"

"Okay. I'll tell you, but I won't repeat myself. Don't interrupt me when I'm talking either." Shie looks at Vegeta's back blankly. "We met when we were four. I _was_ a girl back then-n' yes, I'm a transsexual. We were to be married, but it never happened 'cause I'm a half-breed: half Saiyan and Nyoka. My father was the Saiyan, mother was Nyoka. They died by Frieza's hands. When my family died, Vegeta welcomed me home with open arms and allowed me to live in the palace. We became best friends in such short time. It's funny when I think about it.

"Few months later, a woman- a _god_ is what everyone else calls her- named Annikeenah came and took me in as her own. She's me and Vegeta's teacher. You'll meet her later on. But ... she only came for me, raised me. Vegeta should've agreed to come too, I mean - being abused by your own parents, and then falling into the hands of my parents' killer. I would've expected something else to happen than the choice he'd chosen. I felt betrayed when he -when I heard my best friend- serving that monster.

"I was going to kill him when I sneaked onto that monster's ship, but realized he was just being used, brutally tortured, and the unimaginable-. He was only eight years old. But, I won't forget how he was when we met that time ... calling me big sister, crying in my chest and hugging me. He was so scared - he was like a caged animal being starved and abused. I was frightened at the idea of leaving him.

"That's was when I decided to take him with me - to home. 'That sounds nice', he said. I introduced him to the other guys. The other _weird-o's_ your father associates with.

"One is Tech, a crazed homosexual genius. He's always going for the good-looking guys before they leave, so look after yourself when you're with him. Now that I think about it, somehow Vegeta fits in that category. Not to mention they use to date – I think, or was it a rumor.

"Muscles is a furry, strongest the person in our group, and crazy partying' mutt. He's what you Earthlings call a _were_wolf. He and Vegeta always fight over the last piles of the food. Their fights always results in destroying the dining table and cover the walls with condiments.

"Now, Tania is Muscles little sister - she's always in for bloodlust and stays in her human form. Ugh! And that last time. She starved for a whole day, went out into battle the next day, ate the entire army that day, and came back covered in blood with a full belly. I'll never forget that.

"Luna is our _harasser,_ she curses and shouts at everybody, especially at Tech. She hates homosexuals - sayin' that they take away all the most gorgeous men. That and she just loathe him for being who he is.

"The Twins -a.k.a Alisha and Alicia- are and always _be_ the trouble makers in our crazy group. If they like you, they call you uncle or auntie, or some sort of family rank. If not, they'll just call you by your real name and play nasty pranks on you. They played a prank on Tina, who kept calling them names. She died - embarrassingly. But hey, we warned her.

"Then, there's Kilo. She has a crush on Vegeta -no- she's obsessive over him. You can find pictures and notes about Vegeta everywhere in her room. Trust me; you don't want to be in her room. Hell, even Tech was creped out. But she's a shy girl - cute too.

"Deon is Vegeta's first born - his daughter, your half-sister. You have to know her to understand her personality. Confusing, yet interesting. She looks everything like Vegeta, but her attitude comes from being raised by a bunch of crazies, which I mean by us. I don't know who her mother is. You'll have to ask Vegeta about that.

"And finally, there's Andy. She goes by different names; Andy, Annie, Anne, A'Kin, Kina, Nankeen, and so on, but her real name is Annikinah La Cumba; which means eyes of the moon. It's true her eyes are like the moon; they change color accordingly to the moon's color. She's the leader of our crazed group. Her parents were gods, as well as her brothers – as far the rumors go. They all died - she's the only one that's alive. Her father controls space, her mom controls time, older brother sees through time, younger brother controls all elements. And as they died she gained their powers, which makes her a mortal, non-aging, beautiful goddess…Or how the story goes anyway.

"We didn't name our group, most people calls us 'The Assassins'. We like the name and kept it. I mean - if you think about it, we are kind of like assassins, but only crazier.

"Where was I - Oh yeah! After I took Vegeta in, he only stayed for two months and went back to Frieza. It was Andy's demand for him to go back. Don't know why, but I felt lost - torn when he left. Andy said something about meeting a new member of our _family_ in a couple of years. And to believe it was Deon, she' so cute. We all raised her as our own – in our own way. And yet she seems so-"

"Shie, where in the hell are the microphones!" Vegeta shouts out of anger and frustration.

"Uh, push the red button on the side of the screen!" He shouts back.

Vegeta pushes the red button. A shelf comes out, revealing the microphones and many other items. "Oh. I knew that." He takes the microphones, slides the shelf back in and walks back to Trunks and Shie.


	4. The Plan

**Normal POV=*=*=**

"speech"

"_thought"_

_/telepathic/_

* * *

**Character's POV *****

thought

"speech"

_'telepathic'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(The Plan…)

A week has passed since Vegeta and Trunks has been kidnapped. Bulma sure had several fits since that day; yelling, shouting, crying, pan throwing, and cursing all the Gods in the entire universe. The news of Vegeta and Trunks being kidnapped had taken a big toll on her; the love of her life and her first born child - gone.

Goku could only feel weak for not protecting the ones they lost. He felt guilty; he believed he could've tried harder, to have use all of his powers until he breathed his last breathe.

"_I have to train; I have to get stronger to get them back. I can't be weak; I have to be stronger than this. There's no room for weakness."_ The gravity in the Gravity Room increases, pushing the limits beyond of what Goku usually trained by. _"I have to be stronger than Shie. I have to beat his power level." _It seemed impossible at first because the power level Goku was searching for was beyond that of a super Saiyan three…if he guessed right, _"It should be somewhere around the power of super Saiyan five-if there is such of a power."_

Three knocks are heard on the door.

Goku walks to the main computer and shuts off the gravity. He senses his son Goten at the door. "You can come in, Goten." Goten jogs inside the room eyes wide with a huge ridiculous smile on his face. "What has got you-?"

Goten interrupts, stopping in front of his father, and stutters as he speaks. "D-dad t-there is bounty-hunters - real bounty hunters - they came for S-Shie - you got to see - they are so cool - she's so _cute_ - big swords - and their powers...!" He waves his arms frantically in the air, emphasizing his words.

Goku grabs his son's shoulders, stopping his son's excitement. "Calm down Goten, take deeps breathes, and then tell me what's going on?" He stands strait up and places his fists on his hips, as his son did as his father told him. As Goten opens his mouth Goku interjects, "Slowly."

"Okay, there are these bounty hunters in the yard asking for Shie, saying they're hunting him down for a huge bounty that's placed on his head. If we could get them on our side they could help us get Vegeta and Trunks back, but we didn't tell them anything because we think it should be your call." Goten pauses. "Also, they had fought Shie before."

As Goku heard this, he nods his head, and brushes past Goten…serious. Goten follows behind his father down the hallways of Capsule Corporation until they reach the yard the hunters were waiting. Goku sensed both high power levels, guessing it was the bounty hunters Goten was talking about. They were pretty high, but not what he had expected for they were half as strong as Shie. Goku slows down approaching them, taking a good look at the hunters.

There's a female and a male. The male is an Ice-jinn that's a few inches taller than Goku. By the looks of him, he's in the third transformation, but his power level was five times stronger. He looks kind of like Cooler, but his skin color is milk chocolate with dark brown strips running along his arms, legs, and tail. His armor-like skin was smoky-grey, claws were black, and the color of his eyes silver. And to no surprise that the crystal-like items on his body is purple. He carries what looks like a steel blue giant machete on his back, twin daggers around his waist, and a thick, leather brown belt with several bags, a water canteen hanging off to his side.

The female is a foot and a few inches shorter than the Ice-jinn. A brown furry tail swishes softly behind her…a Saiyan - a teenager at that. She has a dark tan skin, her eye color was the same as the Ice-jinn next to her, and spiky black hair runs down to her shoulder. She doesn't wear the original Saiyan armor; instead she wears a green spaghetti strap shirt that covers down to her belly button, dirty grey fingerless gloves, skinny grey pants that's held up by a checkered pattern belt; a thick brown belt overlaps it diagonally, holding belt bags; and military black boots on her feet. She carries twin hook swords on her back, several pairs of knives on her waist, and a white dagger on her lower left leg.

Goku was taken aback by the bounty hunters, especially by the _female_ Saiyan.

Goku continues to walk towards the hunters. The Ice-jinn steps forward a little, closing the gap between Goku and him, stopping in a foot distance. The male introduces themselves, "My name is Lasso, and the one behind me is Glimpse."

"Hi, my name's Goku." Goku sticks out his hand in greeting. The Ice-jinn bends a bit towards the side, observing the hand, then back into the same position. He looks at Goku wondering, _"Why is he sticking his hand out."_

The female behind Lasso, Glimpse, shakes her head as she watches the male in front of her. Like reading his mind she breaks the silence. "It's called a handshake." Lasso looks at her questionably. "You take his hand and shake it. It's another form of a greeting." She explains towards his confusion.

Goku was shocked when he heard this, but never moved his hand. Lasso takes Goku's hand without warning and shakes it. The moment was awkward; their shake was slow and showed insecurity as they touched hands, both leaned away from each other unsure if the other was to cause harm.

After the weird shake, Lasso looks at his hand, then to Goku. "Is…shaking hands a normal greeting here on this planet?"

"Yes, there are different greetings…like we could wave at each other."

Lasso nods in understanding and looks at the others behind Goku. Goten waved at him, Gohan smile grew, Piccolo nods at him, Pan bows towards him, and the rest of the group made other hands gesture he never seen before. _"Oh, I get it…I think."_ He looks back at Glimpse then at Goku again. "What are you?" He asked Goku.

"Me, I'm a Saiyan. Didn't you know that?" Goku points to himself.

"I heard of them but didn't really meet any, besides my sister." He points to the female behind himself with his thumb.

"She's your sister?" Everyone said in unison, shocked forever hearing such improbability.

"Yeah, she's my older sister. We've been together ever since I was born." He crossed his arms. "You seemed so surprised?"

"Well, the Ice-jinns I've met hated Saiyans, and wanted nothing to do with us." Goku looks between the siblings. "You seem much nicer."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He frowns a little. "Humph, my family did nothing but ruin _our_ image and reputation of our race. Destroying planets, conquering planets and harvesting their natural resources, drive other alien races to extinction, so on and so forth."

Goku points his finger at Lasso. "Wait, are you guys related to Frieza by any chance?"

"Yes, he's our cousin." Goku frowns a little. "We're not like them. You don't have to worry; we've never looked at each other as family or being anywhere related." Lasso smirks as Goku's face lighten up, hearing that the bounty hunters meant no trouble.

Gohan walks up. "You two don't look alike."

Glimpse walks up, pushes past Lasso, points her finger to herself, and looks strait into Gohan's eyes. "I'm his full-blooded sister - believe it or not - just because we don't look alike doesn't mean we _aren't_ related. We are both half Saiyan and Ice-jinn." She folds her arms. "If you have a problem with that, talk it up to our dead parents 'cause it's their fault they fell in love and eloped."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Gohan scratches his head. "So, why are you guys here anyway?"

Lasso speaks. "As we said before, we're bounty hunters. We came here following Shie from planet Tairosa. You see he has a huge bounty on his head and he's a member of the Assassin Clan."

Goku scratches his head, "The Assassin clan, what's that?"

Glimpse explains. "The Assassin Clan is a clan full of professionalized fighters. Their leader that's a Goddess- or so they say and the fighters in the clan are amazingly powerful, ferocious, skilled, and nearly impossible to beat. They usually work for rich people or help out in wars to earn profits. So far only one member of the clan has been killed. He was the weakest of the entire clan. The one we are after is the sixth most powerful out of all of them. It's amazing though, that none of you guys died. Usually, Shie would tease, then kill his victims slowly or eat them alive if they were weaker than him. For some reason he left you guys intact with only a few scratches. Do any of you guys know why?"

Goku says, "We really don't know. All I know is that last week he kidnapped Vegeta for some rich king and his son Trunks for some reason."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa - wait a minute. Do you mean Vegeta – as in the prince?

"Yes," Their expressions gave Goku the chills, "is there a problem?"

Lasso explains. "Shie and Vegeta are friends; not enemies. They've known each other since they were kids. Due to be wedded and all, but was stopped when the king of planet Vegeta found out that Shie wasn't a full-blooded Saiyan. He ever mentioned you guys about this?"

Krillin adds his two-senses. "Well, we really aren't labeled as friends or anything."

"And what do you mean Vegeta and Shie are friends? If they were friends, we wouldn't have been fighting Shie. Is there something that you guys are you not telling me?" Goku said.

The siblings look at each other and then at Goku. Glimpse says, "Well the only thing we can tell you is that Vegeta and Shie are no strangers to each other, as well as the entire clan."

Lasso adds in, "Also, he's their _nanny. _He looks after the clan when their leader is busy with a mission or two." Lasso pops an eyebrow. "If you guys would have thought about it…where do you think Vegeta learned his 'Gallic-Gun' from, Frieza? He commands Napa and Raditz, so they couldn't have taught him? Or someone who knows how to do some real damage with unlimited chi?"

Goku thinks about the events from last week. "_The day was set-up first with a friendly introduction, but then they all just suddenly just fought. Shie's fighting style was much like Vegeta's, especially his reflexes. The interaction from Vegeta with Shie, he usually talks during certain times. Was Vegeta even struggling when Shie was holding him with his tail? Actually, he wasn't really fighting. No it can't be."_ Goku thought, and then says, "I won't believe it. Not until I have proof." He shakes his head in denial.

"Well, believe what you want." Glimpse scratches the side of her head. "It was nice meeting you all, but we have to get going or we'll lose track of Shie." They start to take off in the sky.

"Wait." Goku flies up to them. "Let us come with you. I know what I heard from you might not be true, but at least he should have some reason to do such a thing if it's true. Besides, if Vegeta is their nanny, won't Shie head back to rest of the clan?"

The siblings sweat drop. "We haven't thought of that." Lasso said.

Glimpse looks towards her brother, _/Might as well since we are going to run into the whole clan. Besides, extra hands really sound like a good idea. /_ Glimpse adds in. "Fine you guys could come. You guys got a ship?"

"Yes, and it could fit all of us too."

"Alright then, let's get packing immediately!"


	5. The Difference Inbetween

**NORM POV +*+*+**

_"thought"_

"speech"

/telepathic/

* * *

**CHARATER POV * * ***

"speech"

'Thought'

_'telepathic speech'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(The Difference In-between…)

Scratch.

Trunks shifts in his bed to the left.

Scratch.

Trunks shift in his bed again, turning to his right and covering his ear with his pillow as he hears the scratching noise more frequent.

Scratch. Scratch.

Trunks sit up in his bed grumbling. "Dad, is that you?" The scratching sound comes from the next room, which turns out to be the bathroom. "Dad!" Trunks call out a bit louder.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Trunks gets out his bed, grumbling and scratches his head as he walks over to turn on the light. The bedroom light blinds, reacting to shade his eyes his eyes, as he turned them on. He hears the scratching noise again and walks over to the bathroom. "Dad, are you in there?" The scratching sounds get louder as Trunks gets closer to the slightly open door. Trunks grumbles, "What's with the annoying scratching noises?"

"Mind your own business!" Vegeta's voice could be heard on the other side of the door. Clanking of glass, utensils, swishing of water, and some sort of machinery.

Trunks pop an eyebrow, curious as he pushes the bathroom door open. "AH!" Trunks panics, turns around and covers his eyes, face red from embarrassment and slams the door shut. "Damn it! Dad, how come you didn't tell me you were shaving ... and naked for that matter!" He slides down against the door, shaking all thoughts of his naked father. "You could've at least warned me and had the door locked! Oh Gods, I'm eternally scared...this is worse than that one video on YouTube with the jar and…ugh!"

"Well, that's what you get for barding in and not knocking on the door." Vegeta steps into the shower, adding in, "And it's not like my nudity bothers you."

"Yes it does! The fact that there's no way there could be that much hair in a _certain AREA!"_

"Well here's a fun fact for you; Saiyans get twice as much hair than humans do…Happy now?"

"No! Absolutely - Not!"

"Then make yourself useful and tell Shie we arrived at our destination - whatever it is?"

Trunks get up from the ground and walks over to his bed, putting on some decent clothes to put on besides the underwear he's wearing. He walks out of the room into the hallway wearing a baggy white shirt he's borrowing from Shie, royal blue pants he's borrowing from his father and nothing on his feet since the coldness of the floor doesn't disturb him.

Shie's bedroom is on the second level, on the left side, two halls down, and six doors down in the third hallway. Confusing as it may be, it's always easier to follow your nose. Shie's bedroom smelt of sweet honey, warm brown sugar, and blood. The sweet honey smell comes from what Shie like to mix in his drinks and to put on certain kinds of food. The warm brown sugar is the lotion, soap, shampoo and conditioner he puts on himself. The blood is unknown.

Just as Trunks stands before the door and knocks, Shie opens the door with, what looks like, a leg in his mouth.

"_At least I know where the smell of blood comes from."_ Trunks thought.

Shie chews then swallows the piece of raw meat in his mouth and holds the rest in his left hand. "Sup little man! Where's Vegeta?"

"Shaving..." Trunks try not to remember his naked image of his father.

"Oh, I see." He gives Trunks a sideways glance and smirks. "You saw his rainforest, huh?" Trunks tenses as the thought and an image of his father comes swarming in his mind. Shie laughs at the look expressed o Trunks' face. "If you take a second look at it you might sight some wild animals living in there."

Both laugh at the thought of the 'rain forest'. Shie steps to the side, offering Trunks to come in. Trunks walk past Shie and looks around his bedroom.

The bedroom was pretty plain, but messy. There was plenty of space to walk around without crashing into things. The floor is kept clean; no stains or any marks of spilt drinks at all. There's a four-seated couch, a fireplace – _"How does that work?"_ two end tables, a coffee table, and something that close to a plasma screen TV on the left side of the room. The center of the room has Shie's triple king sized bed and a bookshelf right next to it on the left side. On the right side, there are thousands of decorations and other objects neatly spread out against the wall and labeled. Trunks' attention stayed on the right side of the room. He was eyeing every item as it were treasure. He picks up a leather jacket and tries it on.

It fit perfectly.

"You like my gallery?" Trunks turn towards Shie. "That there you are wearing is Vegeta's when we were both in our teen years. He wore it in the Great War of GLASS."

"Glass?"

"The Gytrios verses the Lykeans, the Asidians, and the Sai-Souns."

"Oh." Trunks look at his self in the mirror. "Did he really like to wear leather or was it a fad?"

"No, he really likes to wear leather. Actually, back then he never liked going anywhere if he doesn't wear anything that's made of black leather. The reason he changed to spandexes is a mystery to me."

"How tall was he?"

Shie levels his hand a bit lower than Trunks' shoulder. "That tall…If you count in his hair."

"There's is no way my father could be that short and wear this coat like this. I mean, this is my exact size."

"Not really. The bottom end of the coat shows how taller you are compared to how tall your father used to be back then. Just to add in, the coat was tailored exactly just for him to fit it." Trunks look at his legs and sees that the coat's end was just above his knees. Shie leans against the bed post. "He had a bigger torso back then. Or maybe you are just too skinny."

Trunks stomach growls. "I guess it's the second one." He takes off his father's old leather coat and places it on top a golden broke sword. "I forgot to tell you. Dad sent me to tell that we arrived at the ... destination - whatever it is."

"Oh!" Shie walks off into his bathroom and comes out with an odd-looking keychain. "Alright, I got my keys. Let's go!" He said while he stuck out his arm in the air.

Trunks follow behind Shie out of his bedroom and into the halls. Trunks look at Shei awkwardly. "You know Shie…I've always wondered ... How exactly did you and my dad became friends. You act just like Goku. And dad doesn't really like Goku - at all."

"Nah…He loves him." Shie says smirking.

"What?" Trunks stops in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

"Let me put it this way-" A beeping sound goes off. "We better get going. I'll tell you later." Shie jogs down the hall. "C'mon! We got to hurry!" Shie calls back to Trunks.

Trunks shake his head and runs after Shie. "Wait up!"

The mother ship stops, orbiting around an unknown planet to Trunks. "Planet Sylket, pretty isn't it?" Shie stands in front of an oval shaped looking window. "But you should see the capital Edenia, Linzia. That place makes this one look like a dumpster." Shie crackles a smile.

"I heard about Edenia, what is it exactly?" Trunks ask, sitting down. He looks out the window staring at the huge multi-colored planet.

"Edenia is an empire. An empire of nearly thirty five universes and several scattered galaxies across space." He starts out.

Trunks stare at Shie with his mouth agape. "It's that big, how do they do it?" Shie smiles at Trunks and places his left index finger against his mouth. "Oh, sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay; just try to think before you speak." Shie gazes back to the planet before him. "Its capital, Linzia is where I grew up and met Vegeta's father, my _real_ father, uncle, new and old friends and my first love." Shie giggles. "He was so cute, but his attitude need more than _some_ adjustment.

"Now where was I…oh, yes…Edenia is ruled by an emperor named _**Eldest**_." Trunks give him a questioning look. "He has no real name, nor was he given one. The reason we call him Eldest is because he **is** the oldest person _alive_. The King of Edenia is Eldest's old apprentice, Lucas." Trunks show he understood but was confused. "Eldest doesn't completely rule it, but much of like…supervising the events that happens around him while the King of Edenia rules and takes charge. It's another way of saying that Eldest is the wise man that holds all knowledge and the king is chief." Trunks gives a simple 'oh', but the look on his face said that he was not satisfied.

"I'm not a man of politics but I'll try to answer your question…" Shie thinks for a while. "Each planet has what I like to call, 'Presidents'. Like how it is on your planet." He thinks again then continues. "The planets goes into elections and vote for the leader they like to rule the planet. Doesn't matter who or where they came from, as long they are over the age of thirty and highly intelligent." He scratches his head. "Their time of terms for ruling depend on the planet and the citizens that live there. Once the President is settled, the king ensures that person is doing his duty, or something along those lines." Shie frowns. "Eldest sits back and watches what happens and only interferes if he sees something he doesn't like…

"If you want a real explanation, you should ask Tech when you meet him." Shie undid the long slash that held up his hair, swaying it about until it lay flowing down touching the floor at its tips.

Trunks observe the long smooth strands of dark hair. Shie's hair is naturally smooth like Trunks' but much longer. Trunks felt jealousy swelling over.

Shie caught Trunks staring at his hair. "I can't keep it in one style or it'll get completely messy." Trunks blush in embarrassment and looks away. Shie combs his fingers through his hair, revealing how silky and loose it is. Trunks turn back to Shie, watching him combing his hair with his fingers. Shie takes a deep breath and exhales harshly.

"You're lucky that you have a father like Vegeta, you know that right?" Shie looks down at Trunks.

Trunks cross his arms. "Humph…he barely even cared."

"It's better to have something than rather have nothing at all." Trunks look at Shie. "Vegeta and I lost more than what we could gain throughout our lives, and…" An angry tear falls. "Neither of us had a good life when our parents abandon us. Took us years to accept the fact that nothing was going to get better…No, I take that back; we never had parents, sort of to say. It's just that ..."

"What are you moping about this time?" Vegeta comes in strutting his way to Shie. Trunks watch his father coming and give a skeptical look, while Shie hands Vegeta the long slash. "Has the portal landed? It shouldn't have taken this long."

Shie pouts and kneels down, facing away from Vegeta. "It landed four minutes ago. We were just waiting for you." Vegeta pulls Shie's hair up into a high pony tail, once in place, he starts wrapping the slash around it. "Hey, what are we going to do about your son?"

Trunks pop an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" They snicker. "What's so funny?" He shouts out in embarrassment, feeling the one that is left out.

Vegeta smirks evilly. "Oh, you'll see." Trunks trembled, feeling an odd tingling sensation flowing up and down his spine.


	6. Important Balance

**NORM POV +*+*+**

"_thought"_

"speech"

/telepathic/

* * *

**CHARATER POV * * ***

"speech"

thought

_'telepathic speech'_

* * *

**Family Is Family**

(Important Balance...)

A month crossed over since Vegeta and Trunks has been taken. A week has passed since Goku entered the gravity chamber. Punching, kicking, flexing and sweating. He could not, should not leave until he becomes more powerful. _"I won't lose again. Even if Shie defeated me, I will not back down. Even __**if**__ Vegeta had lied to me ... I won't lose!" _He punches the air one last time, and then sits down, exhaling and inhaling slowly.

Only Goten, Gohan, Uub and somehow Pan came along. The rest of the Z-gang stayed behind, not wanting to get too involved in this weird situation as they were already.

A knock is heard from the door. "You need to eat…" Glimpse, has been bothering Goku since they left Earth. "…Now." More like demanding.

"Just a few more minutes and I'll be done." Goku responds.

"You keep say'n that, but you had'n come out all week." She sighs. "If it'll make you feel any better, I could teach you how to fight better; both faster and stronger." She waits for a response but got none, just silence. "I know Shie's weakness. I'll tell you and teach you if you come out and eat." She asks softly, still getting no response on the other side. Her Saiyan had got the better of her, shortening her patience to zero. "If not, I'll snatch you out of there an' fetch out the needles." She threatened harshly, with a stern dark voice.

Glimpse discovered Goku's phobia of needles when Goku spotted a threading needle on the counter in the kitchen. Goten was the one who pointed it out at first, but didn't explain why he was scared…funny as it may be.

Goku instantly dash out of the gravity chamber and into the kitchen, sitting down, waiting to be served. Lasso walks in and places several plates down for Goku. As Goku stuffs his face, Lasso says, "There's something I need to talk with you. It's about Vegeta." Goku looks up at Lasso, nods and goes back to eating. "Remember what I said about them, and having Vegeta as their nanny?"

Goku swallows. "Yes, is there something wrong?"

Glimpse walks next to Lasso and takes a seat across from Goku. Lasso continues, "Well, you see ... the truth is that Vegeta, your friend, is much stronger when he's around one of the Assassin clan members."

Goku finishes the last of his meal. He cocks his head to the side with confused puzzlement clearly written all over his face. "I'm not getting what you're saying."

Glimpse growls in anger. "Let us cut to the chase. When the Assassins need their _nanny_ they call for him an' wait or they come and fetch him. This only occur when the leader is out; leaving the clan unsupervised. An' as being the strongest, she protects the clan. You get what I'm saying?" Goku nods, not wanting to feel the wrath of the powerful teenager – no older adult. "So she needs someone else take her place as _protector_; someone strong as her."

Goku cuts in before she continues. "But Vegeta is not _that_ powerful."

Lasso speaks, answering Goku's question more calmly than his younger sister. "That is what we are trying to explain to you. The clan's leader put some sort of curse or seal on Vegeta that makes him more powerful when he's hanging around the clan. So in other words to say, the longer he stays with them the more power he'll gain. He's actually borrowing some of _Andy_'s power, making him becoming some sort of demi-god."

The explanation switches back to Glimpse. "We found a way to get our hands on it, but we need blood to be able to use it." Silence takes over the room for a few seconds. "The blood of one of the clan members; a drop should do. We need you Goku to be the one that carries the seal or curse of some sort to defeat the assassins. Also, the others must not know about this as well."

"Why me…Why are you suggesting this?" Goku felt uneasy about this turn of events. "And why must my friends must not know about this, huh?" An unknown anger comforts him, allowing his rage to flow freely. "Explain!" He slams his fists on the table.

"I guess we have to tell you." Glimpse says sadly.

Goku's energy climbs unaware; having his questions being unanswered only fueled him more. "What? Why aren't you telling me anything? What's going on here?"

"CLAM DOWN, GOKU!" Lasso shouts at the top of his lungs. "I'll tell you ... everything."

Lasso tips his head down, clasps his hands and leans onto the table. "The truth is Vegeta is a wanted genocidal killer." Goku got impatient, and gave him a dark glare. "First, we were to kill the prince once he was born, but found something disturbing about that fact. Vegeta was found…not _exactly_ born. The king couldn't produce an heir, so when he founded the prince as a baby he took him in and treated him as one of his own. So we dug a little deeper."

"Who sent you to kill Vegeta?" Goku asks darkly.

Glimpse speaks up. "We cannot speak on that, but we were told by the dragon gods that the prince would bring peace and prosperity to the universe if he stayed on his home planet and remain alive. That was until Frieza came into his life.

"Frieza knew the prince possessed some sort of god like ability that will make him the ruler of the universe. The problem was how to get him to use that ability. So in his conclusion, he had to take the prince. Frieza abused and threatened the king to giving up Vegeta. Frieza succeed in the end. Problem was that the moment Frieza had taken Vegeta; he also destroyed his home planet. The prince's powers completely vanished.

"As that planet was destroyed, the guardians became weaker, the gods were completely closed off in their own realm, evil grown too powerful, and the universe became unbalanced. Andy, the assassin clan leader, somewhat a god herself, sensed the corruption and lost most of her powers. She went to Frieza and demanded the prince to return home, but in return was told that the planet had no longer existed. She told Frieza secrets that never were meant to be told nor spoke of just to get him to agree to her proposal, but in return he wanted the prince to remain his keeping as long as he lived."

"What were those secrets?" Goku asks quickly.

"Again, we cannot tell you." Glimpse continues where she left off. "Andy trained Vegeta sacred techniques, helped him developed telekinesis, and many other secrets we do not know of. We were afraid as the prince grew stronger, but just before we could do anything to stop the prince in his tracks..." Glimpse balls her hands into fist and started crying in anger.

"And…" Goku ask.

Lasso continues. "Andy…she told us she had put a seal on the prince that'll keep his powers in check. But after she stopped training the prince and disappeared for a while, Vegeta had broken the seal and gained new destructive powers. We had attacked…and attacked, so many times. Once I had my hands around his neck and shoved my blade through his heart, Andy came back. She brought back the Gods and balance to the universe. As well did the seal."

"What was the seal about?" Goku's playful side comes back a little.

"The seal is like some sort of timer. When Andy leaves the seal has a few days left, then it _'turns off'_ automatically. Vegeta gets his godly powers back and the memories that came with them. When she comes back the seal turns back _'on', _taking away the prince's powers and memories.

"After everything settled down she told us the reason of the prince's existence. He was and still is a medium…a balance between the powers of Gods, peace, and corruption of the universe. If was to die and go to hell, he was to come back to life no matter what the cause. But if he was sent to heaven he was to roam around solar systems, galaxies, the universes, and space as a guardian. Like how Andy is.

"She told us she never wanted Vegeta to live that way and for him to remain alive as long as he could as a being. And at the time she disappears back into the realm of Gods, we were to fight Vegeta to keep his power, as a medium, in check."

"Oh, so guys are like king kai, right?" Goku blurts out.

"P-Pardon?" Lasso is confused.

"You know the kais. King Kai looks after the northern section of the galaxy, the grand Kai is in charge of the afterworld, and the supreme kai looks after everything!" Goku exclaims.

"I'm still confused." Glimpse looks at Goku awkward.

"See it's like this. You guys are king Kai; the assassins are the grand Kai, and Andy in the supreme Kai who are all looking after one thing." Goku explains.

"Oh, well it kind of does make sense if you look at the building of powers." Lasso concluded.

"Huh? What's a Kai?" Glimpse asks. Knocking interrupts their meeting. "Come in."

Goten opens the door and walks in the room half way. "We caught up to them. Come take a look."


	7. Getting to Know Others

**NORM POV +*+*+**

"_thought"_

"speech"

/telepathic/

* * *

**CHARATER POV * * ***

"speech"

thought

_'telepathic speech'_

* * *

**FAMILY IS FAMILY**

(Getting To Know Others…)

With Shie in the lead, Vegeta and Trunks following, the trio walks through the crowded market place. Thousands of buyers and merchants selling, trading, as well as some stealing, were buzzing with excitement. "Hey Shie, what's going on? Why is everybody so _active?" _Trunks ask as he looks to his left and sees children robbing a merchant.

"Well-you see, the _Annual Dance Ceremonial Parade_ is going to come on tonight. Think of it as a Marti Gras, but ten times worse. Or better, it depends how you look at it." Shie explains. He stops spotting a teenage brunette with green skin. Shie runs to her. "Yo - MAPLE!"

Maple reacts to her name and turns to see Shie running at her. "Great." Shie stops and hugs Maple, swirling around in circles, then puts her down. "Hello to you too, _'Shyly-active'_. Sup, Flame-breath." She says in a depressing attitude.

"Don't tell me…You still on medication?" Vegeta asks the rhetorical question in a mocking manner. "Or is it your boyfriend?"

"What is it to you?" Maple looks over Vegeta's shoulder. "Who's the grape cool-aid?" She gives a questioning expression.

"He's my son, _Trunks." _Vegeta hisses his son's name in a playful manner.

"Huh…what?" Trunks rip his attention from the three-headed albino liger to Maple.

"Are you serious…**Trunks**? I'm guessing the female named him…while you were away." Trunks blushes, mouth agape. Vegeta tries to stifle his laughter. Maple's expression doesn't change.

Shie, knowing what's on Maple's mind, asks her a question. "What's your nickname for him?"

"I can't come up with one immediately unless I already know their personality. Would you just leave me alone?" Maple turns to the merchant and pays for the items she'd picked. "I have enough problems dealing with-" She stops talking as a thought came through her mind. "Ve - Flame-breath."

"Humph?" Vegeta grunts at his nick name.

"Muscles is here." She says plainly.

"And…" He asks questionably.

"He still owes you from last time. If you run to 'Red Moon' before he leaves-" Vegeta flashes out of sight. "Well, I guess I'm stuck with you two."

"Wait a minute…What about my dad?"

"The place he's going to doesn't allow _minors_ to enter. So, just stick with us." Maple looks around, and then exhales depressingly. "Or just me, since _'Active'_ disappeared on us." She turns to leave. "Come." Trunks follow.

As time passes, Trunks observes Maple with calculating eyes. The length of her slightly-spiked dark brown hair barely touches her shoulders, her green skin matching the same shade as Piccolo's. She had no antennas, claws, or was her ears were pointy. Her clothes matches the same style as on earth, but the type of clothes was different and unfamiliar. There were boots on her feet, just a leather clothe and same wrappings. She was the same height as his father's. Her eyes were a bright, beautiful copper color. Yet, she looks completely human, but with odd coloring of her skin.

"Have you looked at my tattoo yet?" She asks.

"What? How did you-"

"I can read minds. I may look normal and plain to you, but trust me." She stops walking and looks directly into Trunks' eyes. "Just don't piss me off!" Trunks gulp and nod in agreement. "Now, carry these. We're going to be out here a little while longer. So, I'll need your help of carrying things around. Come." She continues her routine.

Trunks think back to what Maple said. As if on cue, Maple pulls down her shirt to reveal a tattoo on her left shoulder. Trunks stare at it. A complex giant serpent is coiling around a dragon as the dragon bare a clear bite mark of the serpent. By the looks of it, the dragon is dying and couldn't get out of the serpents grasps. Trunks wonder why Maple has the tattoo on her.

She answers his unasked question. "It is a saying, _'No matter how strong the dragon is, it could still die from the serpent's sting'._ Andy put it on me right after she took me in as one of her own. She told me to figure out its meaning on my own. And if I could, she'll add another one that will signify me as a top leading assassin. And I'll be the new leader of the clan." She explains in a blank expressionless way.

"What's your relationship with my father?" Trunks ask in a clam tone.

"The bond we share is as if we were... acquaintances, or rivals. We call each other names, we fight only in verbs, and we challenge one another from time to time…Nothing too close." She answers.

"So, can I ask another question?" She nods. "Who is Andy, to you I mean?"

Maple stops at a chop shop. "Wait here." She goes in. After what seems like hours, she comes back out. "Here, drink." She opens a bottle for Trunks and hands it to him. "To answer the question you asked earlier." Trunks turn his attention to her. "A'kinah is like a sensei to me. A teacher that guides me through many things and protects me from any harm I couldn't handle. She even ensures my health. I believe there's a word for it, but I don't remember."

"A guardian, right?" She looks towards Trunks. "Read my mind. I can't really explain it either."

She reads Trunks' mind. "The ... relationship we had ... it's like ... how it is between you and ... that Goku person." She looks up to the setting sun over the village houses. "Remarkable. How he can do so many things and asks for nothing in return. I would like to meet this person myself, if given the chance."

Trunks had nothing to add or say but, "Yeah."

"Maple…" She turns around. There stood a tall slightly muscular blonde. "C'mon. Let's go before the party starts without us. Who's the…whoa!" He squats down closer and adjusts his square half-framed glasses. "You look just like Vegeta. Huh? You must be his son, Trunks, nice to meet you. I'm Tech." He says politely in a bright happy manner. His hand sticks out for a hand shake.

Trunks was about to shake his hand until his mind, in reflex, flashes back to what his dad had said before leaving the mother ship. _"If you ever meet a tall, blonde man named Tech do NOT touch him. Once he gets his palms on you he will torture you until you spill out your darkest secrets, makes you cry, and you will feel as if your life means nothing." _Trunks sweat drops. _"And don't make me tell you what he does AFTERWARDS."_

"Um ... my dad told me to not -Ah!" Tech snatches Trunks up off the ground, puts him over his shoulder and runs away with him. "Put me down!" He shouts and struggles, banging his fists on Tech's back and kicking his chest. Trunks look back at the disappearing Maple. "Help me!"

"No can do." Tech said. "It's just me and you. Mwahahahaha-hahahaha-Aha..." Tech continues his evil laughter as he keeps running with Trunks slouched over his shoulder.


End file.
